Chedworth Roman Villa: Excavations and Re-imaginings from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-first Centuries [Paperback]

Ten years in the planning and with contributions by 27 expert authors, this is a comprehensive record of archaeological research at Chedworth Roman Villa, Gloucestershire (now in the care of the National Trust), from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries.

The volume brings together a large body of new, contextualised information about the villa including: a history of work at Chedworth from the 1860s to the present; a detailed fabric survey of the extant remains; description and analysis of the Roman structural remains; description and analysis of the decorative elements (e.g. mosaics, sculpture) and finds (e.g. coins, Roman artefacts, glass, pottery and bones); discussion of the development of the villa and its place in the landscape; the consolidation and display of the villa from its discovery in 1864 to the present. The volume is well illustrated with drawings and photos ranging in date from the late 1800s to the present.

The volume will appeal to all with an interest in Roman Britain, and Roman villas in particular, and in the antiquarians who first discovered and investigated them.

CHAPTER 1. A HISTORY OF WORK AT AND PUBLICATION ON CHEDWORTH 1864: The Villa Uncovered 1864–1924: Conservation and Publication 1924–57: The Early National Trust Years 1957–65: Sir Ian Richmond 1966–2010: Targeting Problems CHAPTER 2. FABRIC SURVEY AND ANALYSIS (Jason Wood) Introduction Description and Analysis South range West range West baths Room 17: nymphaeum North baths and north range Cross gallery Discussion Roman Victorian First half of twentieth century Second half of twentieth century CHAPTER 3. THE ROMAN STRUCTURAL REMAINS Introduction The South Range The West Range The Nymphaeum (Room 17) The North Range The Cross Gallery The Areas Around the Main Villa Buildings Water Management Appendix Excavations at Chedworth Roman Villa, 1977 (Ron Shoesmith and Tim Copeland) Excavations at Chedworth Roman Villa by the University of Sheffield 2000–2002 (Maureen Carroll) CHAPTER 4. THE DECORATIVE ELEMENTS AND FINDS Introduction The Mosaics (S.R. Cosh) The Sculptured Stone (Martin Henig) The Architectural Stone (Kevin Hayward) The Marble (Susan Walker) Plaster and Mortar (Emma Durham with J.R.L. Allen) Ceramic Building Material (Peter Warry) The Worked Flint (Richard Bradley) Roman Small Finds (Emma Durham with Martin Henig) Post-Roman Finds (Emma Durham) The Vessel Glass (Emma Durham) The Window Glass (Emma Durham) Reports Prepared by Wessex Archaeology The coins (Nicholas Cooke) Metalwork (Grace Perpetua Jones with Phil Andrews and Martin Henig) Worked bone (Lorraine Mepham) Shale/jet (Lorraine Mepham) Glass (Lorraine Mepham) Pottery (Rachael Seager Smith) Ceramic building material (Rachael Seager Smith) Animal bone (R. Billson) Overview of the Coins (Simon Esmonde Cleary) Overview of the Small Finds (Emma Durham) Overview of the Pottery (Jane Timby with Joanna Bird) The Infant Burials (Anna Rohnbogner) Overview of the Animal Remains (Claire Ingrem) CHAPTER 5. CHEDWORTH ROMAN VILLA Pre-Roman Activity The Origins and Structural Development of the Villa The ‘Developed Villa’ Decline and Fall: The End of the Villa and After CHAPTER 6. CHEDWORTH, THE COTSWOLDS AND VILLA CULTURE Landscapes of Production and Prestige Chedworth and Villas in the Locality Chedworth and Rich Villas in the Cotswolds and Britain Chedworth and Late Roman Aristocratic Behaviour CHAPTER 7. REIMAGINING THE VILLA SINCE 1864 Farrer, Eldon and the Consolidation and Display of the Villa 1864–1870 Landscape Management 1864–2010 (Rupert Goulding) Torpor to the Trust: the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries After World War II: Half a Century of Exploration and Presentation Reconstructions of the Villa The Development of the Heritage Lottery Fund Bids and the New Cover-Building, 1994–2012 (Julie Reynolds) ‘The Honoured Guest’: Interpreting the Chedworth Roman Villa to Modern Visitors (Peter Salway) Bibliography Index